Sputnick Legacy - Gen 1.3 - NLC 3 Challenge

[simtarts]

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The wolf sniffed at the crib, and his keen nose helped him to easily determine that the creature it held was a humanoid of some kind, flavored with something a tiny bit...alien. Nonetheless, the baby smelled mighty appealing, and the crib itself, being made of sticks and shells, could torn apart in seconds. In anticipation of an early supper, the wolf began to salivate.




"Oh hi, Doggy!" Paulette bent over and stroked the wolf on its wet muzzle. "No babby-qued dinner for you! Jesse's going to build us some nice walls and not even a bad wolf like you will be able to blow them down."

Even as she chased the wolf off, Paulette was a bit sorry to see it go. There was a rumor that the wolves of Cape Calamity had mysterious powers to transform Sims into something less Simmish and more, well, wolfish. Still, she didn't want her new babies to be eaten up.




And so they finally had a real house. Walls on every side, with a small bedroom for Juniper and Clover. That still left Paulette and Jesse sleeping in the kitchen/dining/livingroom area, but at least they finally had a roof over their head.




The nursery was furnished with nothing more than the bare basics. They didn't have a changing table for getting rid of dirty nappies, but the babies didn't seem to mind so long as the dirty nappies didn't stay on for long.




They were a little smelly, a little burpy, and definitely prone to fits of wailing, but Jesse found himself completely smitten with the twins.




And because he was a family man now, he renewed his commitment to moving up in the education career field. Admittedly, he did wish he had finished University - maybe then he wouldn't be starting out as a lowly playground monitor.




They didn't like it, but Jesse and Paulette had no choice but to hire a nanny to watch the twins while they were at work. Jesse wasn't there to see what kind of job she did, but from he could gather she was efficient. That was a relief, since his fathers had always told him horror stories about the negligent nannies that they had endured when he was a toddler. Perhaps the fact that she was an E.T., too, meant that the nanny paid special care to the twins.




Jesse's skills must have impressed his supervisors, because after only one day of work, he found himself promoted. Not promoted by much, but every little bit counted!




Paulette, too, found herself promoted after her first day in the Journalism field. She probably would have been more excited about it, but she had given up a decent job in the Slacker field just to pursue journalism, and was really missing that 660 simoleon paycheck she used to make.




Time flew, as it tends to, and soon enough it was time for the twins to transition into toddlers.




Except for her brown hair, Clover very much resembled her Daddy.




While Juniper took after her Mother.




They weren't able to provide the toddlers with much that was fancy, but Juniper didn't seem to mind that Jesse had found the battered up xylophone abandoned in a cupboard at the school where he worked.




Nor did Clover seem to notice when they swapped out the cribs for floor mats. Not only were the floor mats cheaper, but they allowed the toddlers to put themselves to bed when they felt tired, which meant that everyone in the house got more sleep.




The hours of amusement provided by rain puddles made Jesse wonder why he'd bothered with toys at all!




He concentrated on teaching the toddlers the essentials, instead: potty-training, talking, and walking. As much as he looked forward to guiding the girls through these milestones, potty-training could be a real bore.




By the looks of it, Clover wasn't too excited by potty-training, either.




If anything, toddlers were more work than infants, and a lot of the things that Jesse had once enjoyed, like experimenting with new recipes in his ramshackle kitchen, went by the wayside. These days, he was lucky if he got time to eat a whole bag of chips.




He rarely had time for the gardening he had once found so soothing, and the plants were soon infested with bugs and on the verge of dying. So much for living off the land! What had been so fun and exciting before he and Paulette were married was now a chore to squeeze in during the last hours of the day.




Even the much more enjoyable "chores" had to take place quickly and late at night, and even then there was no guarantee that one of the twins wouldn't wander in and get an eye-full.






At least things were moving along swimmingly on the job front!




Unfortunately, Jesse's first day as a substitute teacher ended badly. He should had just dosed the kids with lots of sugar and candy instead of trying to teach them long division! The answer to all of life's most difficult equations was always candy.




"I feel like a failure," he admitted, breaking down in front of his wife for the first time in their marriage.

"You're just stressed!" she soothed. "Being a part of this legacy is a job in and of itself, so you're bound to make mistakes once and awhile."

"The kids threw spitballs at me! And they mushed gum in my hair!"

"Monsters!" Paulette gasped. Children were really awful - except for her own, of course!




To help cheer her husband up, Paulette took over gardening duty for the night. She waved away at the persistent bugs while gathering up the bland and unimpressive tomatoes. Maybe with enough garlic, a passable marinara could be made from them?




Suddenly, Paulette was blinded by a column of blazing light. Her hair stood on end and heat washed over her. Dazed, she stumbled through the tomatoes. What the hell had just happened to her?




Whatever it was, it had just done a number on her bladder!




And she had been so close, too! How humiliating!




Almost ten days into her adulthood at Paulette was no more potty-trained than her toddlers. Now she was depressed about her incontinence, and Jesse was depressed about his joblessness. It seemed that they were in the thick of a rough patch.




Jesse sympathized deeply with what his wife had endured, but he couldn't help but wish he'd been there to experience it too.




At least Farr Cortho could still be counted on to come over and cheer him up. Jesse had never really been one for manly wrestling matches, but Farr never let him get out of a round of Punch-You-Punch-Me.




They spent a lot of time bowling, too. Jesse enjoyed it, but wished that Georgia didn't insist on regaling him with tales of all the spots around town where she and Farr had indulged in public WooHoo.




Catching them after one of their romps was the worst.

"Is my lipstick all gone?" Georgia would ask.

"Nope, looks like I missed a spot!" Farr would say gleefully, leaning in to lap up what was left.




Still, Farr's antics served a purpose, reminding Jesse to keep the spark burning in his marriage. Doing it on the living room couch was as public as he and Paulette got, but that didn't mean it wasn't fun!




They weren't actively trying for another baby just yet, but perhaps they would have to start doing so soon, since it was time for the toddlers to transition yet again.




Juniper was the first to age up.




Followed immediately by Clover, who now resembled her Father more than ever.




"So have you noticed we look a little bit like aliens? I've been meaning to ask you this, but since SOMEONE never taught us to talk, I've had to wait until now," said Juniper.

"Dad says that we're half-E.T.," Clover said. "E.T. is what you say if you're an alien in the know."




"How much can we be in the know? We don't even have a television! Actually, we don't even have electricity!" Juniper said, demonstrating that not much got by the twins.

"We're 'starting from scratch' or something, I guess?" Clover pulled at one of her pointy ears. "I don't really get it, though."




Indeed, Jesse and Paulette had not yet found a way to tell their daughters about the legacy tasks that the heir would be expected to carry out. Instead, they tried to guide them towards skill-building that would serve them well in the future, should they have to make money around the house.

Like her mother, Juniper seemed to gravitate towards artistic hobbies.




Clover, on the other hand, liked logic and puzzles. Good thing that a chess table had washed ashore one day!




Paulette continued to avoid the pitfalls at work that Jesse had fallen victim to, but it was still slow-going.




Jesse, meanwhile, had found another job as a playground monitor. It was the very same job he'd started out with, in fact. He didn't really understand why they would fire him just to hire him again, but now that he was getting a little older he was beginning to understand that the world simply worked in crazy ways.




Take, for instance, how the poorest house on the block, and possibly in the whole town, was the only house in town to get robbed.




Jesse was in the thick of sleep when the burglar entered, but his sharp alien ears still detected the stranger's footsteps moving across the bedroom.




The burglar was so single-minded in his pursuit of the shell candle-holder that he didn't even notice Jesse dialing up the police.




He was also so fleet-of-foot that he managed to escape the clutches of the wiley E.T. police officer.




Once again, Jesse was left to curse his bad luck. When would this streak of unfortunate events end? As the glare of his wife fell upon him, he couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't at least a little to blame.

Perhaps even a lot to blame?


**Until next time!**

Comments

[needlecream.livejournal.com]

Aw, Paulette, don't be mad! He tried really hard!
Poor thing. What a sad update, the family seems to really be struggling.

[simtarts.livejournal.com]

Paulette: "YOU DIDN'T LOCK THE BAMBOO DOOR! FAIL!"

Annnnyway, I guess it's kind of my fault for failing at chance cards, making Paulette garden in the rain, and not buying them a burglar alarm. XD